It has always been a desire of mine to create a forum that offered insight,knowledge, wisdom and education from some of the world’s wealthiest people.What better way to become wealthy and successful than to learn from thosewho’ve already accomplished wealth and success. This specially created forumwill take us down the path of wealth and success by offering in-depth interviews,outstanding articles, and plain ole good common sense. What better time than thepresent to begin this journey of discovery into the hearts and minds of the elite,wealthiest people on the face of the earth.One of the people I’d like to begin with is Steve Jobs, creator and founder ofApple, Inc. I absolutely love their product, and not only that, but I gained muchrespect for Mr. Jobs. Now, doesn’t that sound like a good ole success story?His story is incredible. His passion could only have been surpassed by hiscommitment and dedication to the company he started in his garage. As it grew,his partners fired him from his own company. They were mistakenly obliviousto the fact that Steve would return one fateful day to recapture his company onceagain to take revenge from the people who ousted him. He went on to establishApple, Inc. as one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Hollywood, even,wouldn’t have been able to make up this kind of story.

Now that Tim Cook is at the helm of Apple Inc., it faces a new chapter in thehistory of the company. He is poised to honor the wishes of Steve Jobs to maintainand further this “baby” of his. He not only faces the challenges in a highlycompetitive market, he also has some rather huge shoes to fill. Dealing with criticsthat watch his every move, he has to take great care to handle the shareholderswith the same care, or better, that Steve had. Furthermore, he also has to concernhimself with the continued hunger and greed of all the consumers who cannot getenough of Apple products. What an enormous job!Apple just released their earnings, and it shows signs of weakness, as a resultthey lost roughly $50 Billion during intraday trading hours. Mr. Cook donned his damage control hat andmeticulously soothed the investors’ fears. Yet, Apple is a very valuable company.The honeymoon is over, and this is where the rubber really meets the road.When Mr. Jobs passed away, there was a high level of emotion. The releaseand launch of the Ipad Mini was received with mixed reviews and really hasn’texploded like some enthusiasts would have hoped. Now, people are beginningto ask questions. The shareholders are asking the all too important question ofwhether Tim Cook can really pull this off? Investors are fickle and will sellnow and ask questions later. However, Apple continues to carry the title of thewealthiest company ever in history. Very short intraday dips can create hugeswings of losses, which the media will swoop down like they can smell blood inthe water.

My hope is that Mr. Cook will begin to assert himself to the degree of what SteveJobs saw in him to choose him as the captain of what became Steve’s “baby.” Ithink Tim Cook has something special because he trusted Steve Jobs vision of theMac computer, wireless phones and tablets, some of Apple’s premier products.Also, to boost the slumping music industry by partnering with some of the worlds’leading Music and Entrepreneurial Moguls, was sheer genius. So, I trust he knewhow to choose a leader that would take Apple to the next level! Can Cook pull itoff? Will he be the Meg Whitman of Ebay? Well only time will tell. The wholeworld is watching! =)

Teresa I think it’s a little bit of everything you mentioned. The thing I want to point out is Steve Jobs was a visionary, who seen things before people recognize there value. Could it be that while the media is putting pressure on Tim Cook leadership abilities, to carry such a large company, miss to see that, because Steve Jobs always had an ability to see value there missing Tim Cooks true ability and value? Hmmmmm